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Fifth Victim by Zoë Sharp – Book Review

Posted on February 5, 2012
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The only thing more terrifying than fighting for your life is fighting for someone else’s…Bodyguard and ex-Special Forces soldier Charlie Fox would do anything to take her mind off her partner; shot, left for dead and now lying in a coma. So concentrating on a new assignment seems like the perfect way to escape the pain, and her own empty apartment. The job: to protect the naive daughter of an investment banker from a gang of kidnappers who prey on the children of the wealthy Long Island set. Kidnap is a lucrative crime for those with the nerve to pull it off. Usually those who disappear are returned unharmed – except this syndicate likes to take a piece of the victim as part of the pay-off. Still, it all looks simple at first.

A round of exclusive boutiques, charity auctions, luxurious parties aboard million-dollar yachts – and few risks for an experienced operative. But Charlie soon finds out that defending a girl determined to put herself in danger is far from easy. And when her instincts lead her to suspect an inside job, she discovers that not everyone who mingles with the jet-set is what they seem – and the idle rich can be as ruthless as any criminal.

Fifth Victim has been sitting patiently on my To Be Read pile for a number of months, more months than I care to remember. I recall briefly meeting Zoë Sharp in May last year and although it was a quick meeting one thing was clear, her passion for Charlie Fox – her protagonist – was infectious. I knew there and then that I wanted to read one of her adventures but it has – rather ashamedly – taken me eight months to finally pick up the book and read. They say …

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The Fall by Claire McGowan – Book Review

Posted on February 2, 2012
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What would you do if the man you love was accused of murder?

Bad things never happen to Charlotte. She’s living the life she’s always wanted and about to marry wealthy banker, Dan. But Dan’s been hiding a secret, and the pressure is pushing him over the edge. After he’s arrested for the vicious killing of a nightclub owner, Charlotte’s future is shattered.

Then she opens her door to Keisha, an angry and frustrated stranger with a story to tell. Convinced of Dan’s innocence, Charlotte must fight for him – even if it means destroying her perfect life. But what Keisha knows threatens everyone she loves, and puts her own life in danger.

DC Matthew Hegarty is riding high on the success of Dan’s arrest. But he’s finding it difficult to ignore his growing doubts as well as the beautiful and vulnerable Charlotte. Can he really risk it all for what’s right?

Three stories. One truth. They all need to brace themselves for the fall.

Although billed as a crime and police procedural novel, The Fall by debut author Claire McGowan – Director of the Crime Writer’s Association – is so much more than interviewing suspects and listening to witnesses give evidence in a murder trial – for me this book is about an unlikely relationship between two very different women and to some extent a police detective focussing on his career and gaining promotion.

I don’t normally begin a book review discussing characterisation but as I personally found it to be the main ingredient in the story I think I’ll allow myself a little latitude just this once! Told from three very individual perspectives, that of Charlotte, Keisha and Hegarty, I enjoyed how McGowan developed the story and relationships, never forcing either, allowing them to flow effortlessly and develop …

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Seeing Victorian London through 21st century eyes

Posted on February 1, 2012
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I can’t imagine a single writer who wouldn’t be delighted at the sort of review Miles has given Tom-All-Alone’s, but I was particularly pleased at what he said about my description of Maddox’s illness. The old man is suffering from what we immediately recognise as Alzheimer’s disease, though of course his contemporaries would never have heard of such a condition, and it would not be properly recognised and diagnosed until the early 1900s. The reason Miles’ observation struck me so much is that it picks up on one of the biggest challenges – and greatest joys – I had in writing the book.

The narrator of Tom-All-Alone’s takes up the same stance in relation to the story as Charles Dickens does himself in Bleak House: I talk to my readers directly, just as Dickens does. We both make comments about what’s going on in our own narratives, but while Dickens often uses this technique to point out social injustice to his readers, or rail against the pitiful state of the London poor, my own use of it is rather different. The key contrast between us, of course, is that Dickens is talking about 19th century London to a 19th century audience, while my own readers have the benefit of nearly 200 years of hindsight. And while many of Dickens’ middle-class readers would have had very little notion of the brutal reality of the contemporary city, my own readers are under no such illusions.

Dickens, of course, was even more aware of what was really going on about him than we can possibly be. He walked the London streets all his life, often by night, and was active in the management of a home for so-called fallen women. So he knew all about prostitution, he knew all …

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Tom All Alone’s by Lynn Shepherd – Book Review

Posted on February 1, 2012
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London, 1850. Fog in the air and filth in the streets, from the rat-infested graveyard of Tom-All-Alone’s to the elegant chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where the formidable lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn has powerful clients to protect, and a deadly secret to hide. Only that secret is now under threat from a shadowy and unseen adversary – an adversary who must be tracked down at all costs, before it’s too late. Who better for such a task than young Charles Maddox? Unfairly dismissed from the police force, Charles is struggling to establish himself as a private detective. Only business is slow and his one case a dead end, so when Tulkinghorn offers a handsome price for an apparently simple job Charles is unable to resist. But as he soon discovers, nothing here is what it seems.

An assignment that starts with anonymous letters leads soon to a brutal murder, as the investigation lures Charles ever deeper into the terrible darkness Tulkinghorn will stop at nothing to conceal. Inspired by Charles Dickens’ masterpiece Bleak House, Tom-All-Alone’s is a new and gripping Victorian murder mystery which immerses the reader in a grim London underworld that Dickens could only hint at – a world in which girls as young as ten work the night as prostitutes, unwanted babies are ruthlessly disposed of, and those who threaten the rank and reputations of great men are eliminated at once, and without remorse.

There aren’t many authors today who will happily take on Jane Austen, there are even fewer around who will also take on the great Charles Dickens. Who in their right mind – and you have to question their sanity – would take a classic Austen book and add a murder giving her own unique spin on Mansfield Park? In 2010 Shepherd did just that …

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Good to be back

Posted on January 29, 2012
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I have to admit, it’s great to be back in the world of make believe, fiction, crime, history, intrigue and of course twitter following a two week break and self-imposed exile! I’ve missed the camaraderie the book world and twitter affords and I have most definitely come to the conclusion that my daily life would be the poorer without the connection, there’s only so much training six days a week after work you can take without any mental stimulation and friendly banter.

Over the last 16 months I have loved every minute of reading, reviewing and getting to know authors, publicists and reviewers alike but I knew towards the end of last year there was no way I could continue to read and review on the scale I had been. I decided, before burn out occurred and I began to detest picking up a book, the best course of action would be to take a break. This is after all a hobby for me and something I try to fit in with my training and daily work life. Training and fitness is possibly the most important thing in my life right now, those who know me well will know what a struggle the last few years have been – that I will not give up!

Before I began reading in earnest towards the end of 2010 I can’t remember the last time I’d picked up a book to read. I knew nothing of the crime genre, in fact I knew very little about fiction full stop and was totally unprepared for what was about to hit me. 16 months later I’m still learning and discovering new authors every day, whether established veterans or relative newcomers, most are new to me and it will take years before my knowledge is half …

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V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton – Book review

Posted on January 14, 2012
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Las Vegas, 1986. A young college graduate is murdered when he is unable to pay back a loan funded by notorious criminal Lorenzo Dante. Two years later private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds herself assisting to apprehend a shoplifter – Audrey Vance – in a shopping centre. Events take a much darker turn when Audrey’s body is discovered beneath the Cold Spring Bridge, a local suicide spot. Unable to believe she took her own life, Audrey’s fiancé Marvin Striker hires Kinsey to investigate. It soon emerges that the shoplifter had become caught up in a much larger operation. Meanwhile Lorenzo Dante has begun to grow weary of his life in organised crime and frustrated with his violent and impulsive younger brother Cappi. While the police net begins to close in on him, Dante meets the beautiful Nora, who exerts a powerful pull over the gangster. As Kinsey’s enquiries reach a dramatic head, it becomes clear that she and Dante have one thing in common – they must be careful who they trust . . .

Until I received V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton a few weeks ago I have to admit I’d never heard of either the author or her protagonist Kinsey Millhone, a colourful, balsy and determined private detective. I had no idea this was part of a series and as I read the book I began to wonder if it was a standalone or continuation of a long standing storyline. The further I read the more I wanted to discover – on finishing the book – that there was more to ascertain about our heroine. Imagine my delight when I discovered this wasn’t Kinsey’s first outing as a private eye! When time allows I’ll certainly explore the rest of the series if this title is anything to …

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Tideline by Penny Hancock – Book Review

Posted on January 10, 2012
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One winter’s afternoon, voice coach Sonia opens the door of her beautiful riverside home to fifteen-year-old Jez, the nephew of a family friend. He’s come to borrow some music. Sonia invites him in and soon decides that she isn’t going to let him leave. As Sonia’s desire to keep Jez hidden and protected from the outside world becomes all the more overpowering, she is haunted by memories of an intense teenage relationship, which gradually reveal a terrifying truth. The River House, Sonia’s home since childhood, holds secrets within its walls. And outside, on the shores of the Thames, new ones are coming in on the tide…

I came across Tideline by Penny Hancock completely by accident, in all honesty I hadn’t planned to read it, and had it not been for twitter I wouldn’t have. I remember I was in the middle of reading Finders Keepers [Review] by Belinda Bauer when I noticed @keithbwalters and @alice_murphy from Simon & Schuster raving about the book. I wasn’t on the lookout for another January title – I have more than enough – but when Alice and Dawn offered me the chance to read it I simply couldn’t refuse!

Tideline is a dark and enveloping psychological thriller that will hook you from the very first page and keep you captive until the final early morning tide of an old and well-documented river is but a distant memory. I don’t think I can remember reading a book where the main protagonist had such an effect on me literally moments after beginning a book. I distinctly remember having to put the book down after ten pages to take stock of who Sonia was, this really is powerful stuff. Sonia frightened me, psychologically. It was clearly evident this was a woman who had seen better days …

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Death and the Olive Grove by Marco Vichi – Book Review

Posted on January 7, 2012
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April 1964, but spring hasn’t quite sprung. The bad weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. And bad news is coming to the police station.

First, Bordelli’s friend Casimiro, who insists he’s discovered the body of a man in a field above Fiesole. Bordelli races to the scene, but doesn’t find any sign of a corpse.

Only a couple of days later, a little girl is found at Villa Ventaglio. She has been strangled, and there is a horrible bite mark on her belly. Then another little girl is found murdered, with the same macabre signature.

And meanwhile Casimiro has disappeared without a trace.

The investigation marks the start of one of the darkest periods of Bordelli’s life: a nightmare without end, as black as the sky above Florence.

It’s great to be back in Florence, even if it is only for a short while. When I first reviewed Death in August by Marco Vichi back in June 2011 I knew before I’d finished reading the book that Hodder had a hit on their hands. The publishers, securing the rights for the first four books in the Inspector Bordelli series, have once again delivered an outstanding package combining an envious narrative, a colourful and multi-faceted detective and a cornucopia of Italian food to die for. Seriously, the food on offer in this book is enough to tempt anyone off a diet!

Although there were a few moments when I found myself laughing out aloud – much to my embarrassment when I realised co-workers were watching me – Death and the Olive Grove (Inspector Bordelli 2) is a much darker novel than I had anticipated and has a very different feel to Death in August. It would be fair to say Bordelli drives much of this dark atmospheric tension …

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Total Immunity by Robert Ward – Book Review

Posted on January 5, 2012
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Smart, tough Los Angeles FBI agents Jack Harper and Oscar Hidalgo breathe sighs of relief after violent diamond smuggler Karl Steinbach is finally arrested in a complex sting. Vowing vengeance on the agents who brought him down, Steinbach is imprisoned – only to be offered a release with total immunity in a dodgy deal with Homeland Security. As Jack and Oscar’s team of agents start to die, it becomes clear that Steinbach’s is no idle threat. But when the pair investigate their slain comrade’s lives, they discover that what looked like retribution is actually tied to a web of deceit that stretches to the highest echelons of the FBI.

Navigating car chases, shootouts, and even venomous reptiles, Jack and Oscar furiously pursue clues scattered throughout the underbelly of Los Angeles, in a desperate attempt to find the killer – before he finds them. With a storyline crackling with action, a dazzling cast of thugs, traitors, killers and creeps, and a cinematic portrait of a seamy Los Angeles clogged with corruption and greed, Robert Ward’s turbulent new thriller is clever, contemporary and cool as ice.

I’ve always enjoyed FBI, Homeland Security, based thrillers and although they don’t turn up as often as I would like – the last one being Cold Vengeance by Preston & Child in September – I was rather excited to start Total Immunity by Robert Ward. Ward, perhaps best known for his work as a producer and writer for Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice, has written a number of books but Total Immunity marks the first in a series concentrating on main protagonists Agents Jack Harper and Oscar Hidalgo.

A fast paced narrative I found Total Immunity a very quick and entertaining read, nothing too taxing and not overly complex, the storyline is well delivered and …

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Finders Keepers by Belinda Bauer – Book Review

Posted on January 3, 2012
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The eight-year-old boy had vanished from the car and – as if by slick, sick magic – had been replaced by a note on the steering wheel . . . ‘You don’t love him’…

At the height of summer a dark shadow falls across Exmoor. Children are being stolen from cars. Each disappearance is marked only by a terse note – a brutal accusation. There are no explanations, no ransom demands… and no hope.

Policeman Jonas Holly faces a precarious journey into the warped mind of the kidnapper if he’s to stand any chance of catching him. But – still reeling from a personal tragedy – is Jonas really up to the task?

Because there’s at least one person on Exmoor who thinks that, when it comes to being the first line of defence, Jonas Holly may be the last man to trust…

There’s nothing like starting a New Year with a positive outlook on life but I thought I’d begin with a warning – If you’re ever offered a job or holiday let in Shipcott my advice would be not to take it! Although it may sound like an idyllic location in Exmoor I’m positive Miss Marple would have her work cut out for her, Poirot too, in fact she’d probably have to call in reinforcements to make sense of the kidnappings and murders found in abundance in the small village. No one is safe, believe you me!

Finders Keepers represents the third title from Belinda Bauer and although a standalone title – as they all are – you’ll certainly take a lot more from the book if you read them in order, I’m glad I did. Blacklands – the first in the Shipcott series – introduces us to the moor, the Lamb family, and of course the gruesome …

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Sleepwalker by Karen Robards – Book Review

Posted on December 31, 2011
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When rookie cop Micayla Lange arrests a man she discovers breaking into her old family friend Nicco Marino’s mansion, her troubles have only just begun.

Because, as she pulls a gun on professional thief Jason Davis, he drops the bag he’s stolen – and it spills open to reveal photographs of Kristen’s genial “uncle” Nicco handing money to a number of Detroit’s most powerful politicians and law-makers.

No-one was meant to see those photos, least of all a police officer. And – with close circuit cameras capturing every moment of Micayla’s realisation that Uncle Nicco is seriously involved with the mob – she may now be in mortal danger.

But Jason has a suggestion. Perhaps if they team up – then maybe there’ll a chance they’ll both get out alive… He’s her only hope. But can she trust him with her life?

I’m not quite sure where to begin reviewing Sleepwalker by Karen Robards and although I have now finished the book it has left me in two minds! I guess I’ll begin with the covert art, had it not been for a simply stunning book jacket I sincerely doubt whether I’d have picked this book up – testament to a superb job done by the designer and art department. Sporting a woman on the run, the headlights of a car visible in a snowy landscape it just begs to be read.

I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Karen Robards before receiving this book and was surprised to see that she is an established author with more than 30 books to her credit, mostly in the romance genre. Sleepwalker however borders two genres – namely action and romance – and for the most part she successfully pulls it off. As many of my regular readers will know I …

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The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly – Book Review

Posted on December 25, 2011
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‘You kept my secret. I know yours now. That makes us even.’

Paul has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel – but one night what started as petty theft escalates fatally. Now, at nineteen, Paul must bear witness against his friend to avoid imprisonment.

Louisa has her own dark secrets. Having fled from them many years ago she now spends her days steeped in history, renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan mansion. But her fragile peace is shattered when she meets Paul; he’s the image of the one person she never thought she’d see again.

A relationship develops between them, and Louisa starts to believe she can experience the happiness she had given up on; but it soon becomes apparent that neither of them can outrun their violent past . . .

When I began reading The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly two days ago I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting. Sure I was aware of the gardening references, the horticultural theme, an Elizabethan renovation and of course mystery but what I wasn’t prepared for was an emotively dark and psychological journey involving two protagonists, both very different in their own way, yet somehow kindred spirits magically drawn together by fate.

The narrative is very well paced, Kelly using numerous flashbacks to aid the current storyline, and is intelligently written with an effortless yet highly complex prose. The story itself is a well-structured multi layered drama that works on a number of levels. The crime and mystery element, for me, is secondary to Paul and Louisa, the two protagonists, both of whom are trying to start from fresh, hidden away from those that could do them both damage. As the story progresses their lives become entangled and an unexpected and unlikely …

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The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer – Book Review

Posted on December 22, 2011
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The darkest secret of the U.S. Presidency is about to be revealed.

Beecher White, a young archivist for the US government, has always been the keeper of other people’s stories, never a part of the story himself . . . Until now.

While Beecher is showing Clementine Kaye, his first childhood crush, around the National Archives, they accidentally uncover a priceless artefact – a two-hundred-year-old dictionary once belonging to George Washington. Suddenly Beecher and Clementine are entangled in a web of conspiracy and murder.

Beecher’s race to learn the truth behind this mysterious treasure will lead to a code that conceals a disturbing secret from the nation’s founding. A secret that some believe is worth killing for.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always had a fascination with the United States, the history and her Presidency and when the paperback edition of Brad Meltzer’s The Inner Circle landed on my desk a few days ago I jumped at the chance to pay a visit not only to the West Wing – minus Josiah Bartlet unfortunately – but the National Archives. Try as I might I couldn’t get Nicholas Cage’s National Treasure and the multiple copies of the Declaration of Independence out of my head, and that was before I began reading!

The Inner Circle combines betrayal, the presidency, murder and a deep rooted conspiracy to deliver a complex and compelling political thriller, an intriguing thriller that will keep you guessing until the final pages. Meltzer  takes you one way and then another, all the while constantly introducing more than enough red herrings to confuse matters, and then, just when you think you have it all figured out, he switches things around and no one – nothing – is who they first appear to be.

Although the narrative is …

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My Top 15 Books of 2011

Posted on December 19, 2011
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After reading in excess of 120 books this year it was never going to be easy whittling the list down to just 15 favourite books of the year let alone 10! Following last year’s top 15 books of 2010 I thought I’d keep to the same formula but before I list my top books of 2011 I wanted to take time out and mention a handful of titles that narrowly missed out.

Alison Bruce’s The Calling, the third in the DC Goodhew series, is a strong police procedural and an incredibly entertaining crime novel. If you are looking for a standalone novel with an evocative story, stunning landscape and vibrant characters then look no further than Peter Robinson’s Before The Poison. We change the pace a little with two books I struggled to put down Death Mask by Kathryn Fox and Already Gone by John Rector. Finally we have The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz a throwback to Arthur Conan Doyle and the first Sherlock Holmes title to receive the blessing of the Conan Doyle estate.

And so without further ado my top 15 reads of 2011:-

…

15
 Beauty and the inferno – Roberto Saviano

Few people have had to endure – or will ever have the courage to do so – what Roberto Saviano has since the release of Gomorrah in 2006. In Beauty and the inferno he continues to name names and never shies away from adversity or death. The fact that this book took two years to publish is testament to the dogged determination of Roberto and the crew at Maclehose Press. Exceptional.

Published by Maclehose Press- Review

14
 Before I Go To Sleep – SJ Watson

There’s something so powerful and natural about this book that makes me want to read it again

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